I like Nelly's [Ternan] quiet inner strength. I thought there was something about her predicament that I found interesting - that she didn't want to be a floozy mistress, a bit on the side, that she had more self-respect than that.

In my work I fight for, I hope, showing women in a true way. They've got brains.

I think, as an actor, you're always traveling. There's a sense of dislocation sometimes from home.

I've always been a feminist, and what I love in my work is being able to explore a full-sided woman and not patronize her.

But since doing the film ["The Invisible Woman"] I've really learned to appreciate [Charles Dickens], he's phenomenal. "Great Expectations" would be one of my favorites.

My most treasured item is the brown leather bag that my mum bought me from a little Italian shop for my 21st. It's supposed to be a vanity bag, but I use it as a handbag.

Fashion choices are never arbitrary. Even if you say you don't care, that's a decision. There's something you're trying to say.